VLT images of Betelgeuse and its companion (IMAGE)

ESO

VLT images of Betelgeuse and its companion

Caption

Using ESO’s Very Large Telescope (VLT), astronomers have obtained the clearest image ever of what likely is Betelgeuse B, a star orbiting Betelgeuse.

Betelgeuse is a red supergiant star in the Orion constellation. Its brightness changes periodically, and for decades astronomers had suspected that some of these variations could be due to a companion star orbiting around it.

The image in the middle inset in this image was taken in January 2019 with the SPHERE instrument at ESO’s VLT, and shows Betelgeuse itself. The image in the inset on the left was taken in December 2024, when the companion was predicted to be furthest apart from Betelgeuse as seen from Earth. In this inset Betelgeuse has been removed, revealing a source (marked with a crosshair) consistent with being Betelgeuse B.

Credit

ESO/M. Montargès et al. Background: N. Rissinger (skysurvey.org)

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License

CC BY

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